Morning Routine with the Baby
by Wordsorcereress
Summary: Tired parents getting ready for a day of work, and childminding. Fluffy cuteness and family love. Featuring Denzel from FFVII - part 2 of 'with the baby' collection.


Leon warily pulled his coffee mug away from his mouth as his head was tugged backwards. Impatiently he tried to drive for another sip of the bitter caffeine but was forced to back down yet again when the force of the hairbrush ruined the synchronization of lips to porcelain.

His grumpy grunt of annoyance earned him a light swat on the shoulder, "Put it down, you'll spill it on your shirt," Cloud was finally getting somewhere with Leon's mane of hair.

Doing what he was told, Leon settled for shovelling mouthfuls of toast into his mouth. His irritation was soothed very quickly when Cloud's quick, talented fingers began to weave a loose braid- it was therapeutic.

The morning light painted their kitchen a light yellow colour with long shadows, pretty gold rays peeking through the cloud blankets. The smell of coffee and the tinge of frying oil wafted through the air, joined with the sound of distant cars and the hairbrush rustling through Leon's hair by his ears.

With a snap of a band Cloud was finished.

Leon's husband rubbed the shoulder he'd abused, "There." The blond exhaustedly slumped into the chair beside Leon, half an eye on the baby monitor on the kitchen table.

Cloud had massive shadows under his eyes, his hair was messier than normal, his shirt was inside out and he had forgone pants to shuffle around in boxer shorts- or he'd been too tired to fish pants out of their chest of draws. As Leon watched the blond's head was slipping down the arm that propped it up, attempting to sleep again in the moment of peace.

Leon took a huge gulp of coffee to mask the fact he felt as tired as Cloud looked, mentally thanking whoever invented caffeine. As the chemical reaction woke up his numbed brain and body he noticed that Cloud was entirely leaning on the table now, possibly passed out.

The coffee mug was refilled, then Leon carefully ran a hand through the blond's bangs, watching the sun play with them as his fingers did.

One blue eye opened and he roughly murmured; "What?"

Just smiling, Leon shook his head and continued his light petting.

The pretty blue eyes closed again, followed by a tired sigh. Leon was suddenly glad that he was going to work today and not Cloud; the blond would have the chance to catch up on a little sleep. Though even sleep deprived, unwashed and barely dressed Leon still thought he was amazing.

Even more amazing was how Cloud had managed to haul them both out of bed and get Leon's lunchbox ready while Leon struggled to wake up in front of a bathroom mirror. Cloud was still running on low batteries from his shifts yesterday. Cloud is amazing, Leon marvelled as his second coffee cup emptied into his mouth.

Leon pecked a kiss to the back of Cloud's neck and reluctantly got to his weary feet to make Denzel's first bottle of the day; Cloud had used a lot of energy getting him ready in time for work, so now that Leon was awake and Cloud was failing to keep coherent it was Leon's turn to do a little something for Cloud's dedication.

Fried eggs, toast and coffee soon appeared next to Cloud's spot on the table; ready for whenever he was awake enough to eat.

Leon then put the baby formula to be warmed up and went back to sipping coffee and lazily admiring how wonderful his husband was for the last ten minutes before he took on the morning commute.

One coffee later, the baby monitor started to crackle. Denzel whimpering as he woke up in his cot all alone.

Cloud sighed, woken up by the sound of their baby- Leon put a cup of coffee in front of his face, "I'll get Denzel," he offered.

"You'll be late," Cloud protested, pulling the mug closer; eyes hypnotised by the steam …

"Cid won't mind," Leon lied, Cloud was too tired to notice. The older Man made sure that Cloud was finally eating before he left the room.

Denzel was full on bawling when Leon arrived. The little one throwing a baby's tantrum for being left to wake up all alone in the pillow-cage.

Leon smirked at him, watching those waving fists and kicking feet for a moment. Then he brushed back Denzel's fluffy hair and wiped those wet cheeks dry. "Morning, sweetheart," he watched the chubby face contort into a pinched expression of rage- wide bulging eyes, pursed lips, wrinkled nose, puffed up cheeks and eyebrows that didn't know what to do.

Leon couldn't help but laugh as he scooped the baby up in his blanket. He kissed Denzel on his forehead as he walked back to the kitchen. "He has your glare," Leon teased after yawning into the back of his hand, Cloud's grunt of protest made Leon laugh again.

"Shut up," Cloud muttered, moving onto the fried eggs.

The bottle of formula cured Denzel's ridiculous face. His cute wide eyed expression returned as he guzzled down the formula as fast as he could. "He's very hungry today," Leon commented, amazed at how much formula Denzel seemed to consume on a daily basis.

"He's growing, he barely fits his newborn clothes anymore," Cloud pointed out, perking up again now the caffeine was filtering through his system. No doubt he'd crash again in a few minutes. "Needs a lot of food to keep up the pace," Cloud yawned, already preparing another bottle just incase Denzel was hungry enough for seconds, rubbing the sleep from his eyes for the twelth time.

"You'll need big-boy clothes soon, hm?" Leon leaned against the counter, Cloud taking a moment to lean against him in turn and button up Leon's shirt to the top. As Cloud looped his tie into place Leon irrationally wondered how long it would be before Denzel was buttoning up shirts and heading off to work; it would be years, but it felt too close for comfort.

"He's growing up so fast …"

Infected by the same nostalgia, Cloud chuckled, "Remember when he was small enough to fit into our hands like this?" he cupped his hands. Now he'd barely hold Denzel's body that way.

"I do," Leon pressed their foreheads together and Cloud squeezed Leon's hips. After stalling another minute, Leon sighed and gave Denzel to Cloud. "I should go, might only be five minutes late if I rush."

Cloud winced when he looked at the clock, Leon was too scared to look himself. "Be careful." He pulled Denzel up to his shoulder and started to burp him, his blue eyes looked at Leon from head to toe, trying to see if they'd missed anything important in their sleepy morning routine. "Tell Cid I'll take Thursday this week."

"You'll be working three days in a row," Leon protested.

"If I work Thursday I get the whole weekend off," Cloud explained, anticipating Leon's reluctance to let him take back another working day so soon after getting Denzel. Their little one barely let them sleep nights anymore, even part time work was exhausting. Cid was accommodating enough to have them both on part time work, on alternating days. One Dad would always be with their baby son, and the other would work to earn a living. "We can go out on family trips, that's what weekends are for, right?"

"Maybe in a few weeks, when Denz can sleep for longer hours?" Leon suggested, pulling on his right shoe and grabbing his coat.

"I'm not going to discuss this when you're halfway out the door," Cloud dismissed, kicking Leon's other shoe closer to him as Denzel hiccuped a few times in his ear; milk-drunk and sleepy again.

"Fine," conceded Leon, shaking his head to clear it for the road, "Have a good day," he kissed Cloud on his lips as he fumbled for the door handle behind him.

Cloud tugged Leon's tie into a better position, Denzel reaching out to turn up Daddy's collar and smear a little milk onto it. Leon huffed, Cloud chuckled and took the infant's hand back, "You too, Lee, drive safely."

Leon stole one last kiss and walked to his vehicle. Cloud waved in Leon's car mirror until their small house was out of sight, his last view of them until the evening was of Denzel tugging Cloud's bangs into his mouth and Cloud watching in annoyed-confusion.

Yawning, Leon silently wished Cloud good luck. "And good luck to me too." Cid wouldn't be pleased with him this morning.


End file.
